William m



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM M. ORR, OF ORRVILLE, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO CRYSTAL BURIAL CASE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

COFFIN.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of LettersV Patent No. 235,376, dated December 14, 1880.

Application filed October 30, 1879.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. ORR, o Orrville, in the county of Wayne and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cofiins,Caskets, or Burial- Cases; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will :enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to caskets or coffins; and it consists, broadly,.in forming the bottom of said coffin or casket with a countersunk portion, whereby a fianged or shouldered portion of the bottom is raised so as not to touch the base upon which the coffin may rest, by the provision of which ianged or raised portion handles may be attached that shall lift the weight of the casket from its bottom instead of its sides, and whereby also said handles shall beraised above the base or floor upon which the coffin rests.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents an end view of a coffin constructed according to my invention; Fig. 2, a transverse vertical section of the same.

ln the said drawings, A is the body; B, its lid or cover 5 C C, the handles; D, the sunken bottom portion, and E the lianged or raised portion of the bottom.

Instead of making the bottom iiat its main Yportion D is sunken,leavin g thereby a raised or iianged portion, E, of the bottom entirely sur rounding or laterally bounding the sunken portion D. To the raised or flanged portion E handles C may be attached in any suitable manner. What these handles shall be or how they shall be attached, whether adjustably,

removably, or otherwise, constitutes no spe# raised bottom portion, -E, or may be made in'- dependently thereof and connected therewith in any desired manner.

This construction enables a coin to be lifted squarely from its bottom instead of from its sides and on account of this construction much lighter material can be employed in the construction of caskets, and an evident safety against breakage of the coiin from its own weight and the weight of its contents, caused by lifting it from handles attached at its sides, is effectually obviated.

By the provision of the raised portion E the handles are also lifted above any oor or foundation upon which the coffin rests, and are therefore not liable to scratch or damage the floor of a hearse, table, or whatever upon which the coffin may be laid.

I do not limit myself to the employment of this bottom iu any specific construction of cofns or caskets, whether wooden, metallic, vitreous, or otherwise, as it is equally well adapted to all coffins made from any material whatever.

What I claim is-,i-

1. A coffin, casket, or burial-case provided with shoulders between the bottom and sides of the coffin, and handles connected with said shoulders, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a cofn, casket, or burial-case constructed with square shoulders C, integral with the bottom of the cofn and beneath the lower edges of the sides thereof, of handle-irons suitably formed to be secured 'to the horizontal portion of shoulder C and project upwardly any desired distance for the attachment of handles to their upper ends, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM M. OBR. Witnesses:

H. M. WILSON, W. M. REEsE. 

